Ground anchor



y 1953 M. L. CLEVETT, JR 2,841,256

GROUND ANCHOR Filed Dec. 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 6

, Fig. 9 gd l2 4 INVENTOR. MERTON 1.. CLEVETT,JR.

M, ATTORNEYS July 1958 M. L. CLEVETT, JR 2,841,256

GROUND ANCHOR Filed Dec. 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. I5

INVENTOR. MERTON L. CLEVETT,JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Fatent 2,841,256 Patented July 1, 1958 iceGRJOUND ANCHOR Merton L. (Ilevett, In, East Natick, Mass.

Application December 24, 1954, Serial No. 477,501

3 Claims. (Cl. 189-90) This invention relates to ground anchors and moreparticularly to ground anchors which may be placed in position Withoutdigging a preliminary hole in the earth.

in designing and developing ground anchors for numerous industrial uses,a number of specific problems are presented. in the first place, inorder to obtain the maximum anchoring effect, it is important to locatea wide, substantially flat plate or flange beneath the surface of theearth and to provide a substantially firm and durable connection to suchplate in a direction normal to the plane of the plate. Thereafter guywires, tent ropes, antenna mast stays, telephone pole stays and the likemay be secured to the connection and the anchor will provide aresistance to the thrust of such guy wires in the direction of theconnecting members which will be proportional to the size of the plate,and the weight and rigidity of the earth which lies between the plateand the surface of the earth. Thus it is important to locate the anchorplate in the ground with the least disturbance to the earth around it inorder to obtain the full benefit of the rigidity of the earth in itsnatural state. For this reason ground anchors which require a large holeto be dug in the direction of the thrust, so that an anchor can beplaced down in the hole, which is thereafter filled in with earth, havethe disadvantage that the earth along the axis of the thrust has beendisturbed and has much less resistance than substantially undisturbedearth.

One form of ground anchor in the past has entailed digging a hole atright angles to the direction of the expected thrust, placing the platein the hole, and thereafter driving an anchor connecting rod through theearth from the side of the expected direction of thrust and towards thefoot of the hole. With such a device the connecting rod must be drivenin accurately so that it will eventually strike the plate lying at thebottom of the hole. Thereafter the rod and plate are joined by means ofa threaded connection which is engaged by twisting the rod. This lattermentioned anchor is satisfactory from the standpoint of holding powerbut the threaded connection is very difiicult to fit when the plate isat the bottom of the hole and must be fitted to the rod while it remainspenetrating through several feet of earth, and also it is a decidedinconvenience to have to dig the hole and thereafter obtain an accurateregistration be tween the said threaded elements. Other types ofconventional anchors involve complicated spreading elements which expandafter the anchor has been driven into the ground, and are unsatisfactoryeither because they are highly complicated and expensive, or else theyalso require substantially large holes to be dug which result in addedexpense and in many cases they are not sufiiciently durable.

Therefore, it is an obiect of my invention to provide a ground anchorwhich can be inserted into the earth along the axis of thrust withoutthe necessity of digging a hole. A further object of my invention is theprovision of such an anchor in which the connection between the anchorplate and the guy, stay or rope permits the anchor plate to assume aposition normal to the thrust and which is extremely firm and durable.

In the accomplishment of these and other objects of my invention in apreferred embodiment thereof, 1 employ a triangular-shaped base platehaving a lower portion tapered to provide easy penetration into theground and an upper portion which is flared laterally to either side toprovide a substantially broad anchoring surface. Approximately in thecenter of the base plate, I connect an anchor rod or other thrustbearing element by means of a joint which permits the base plate topivot relative to the rod. Also on one side of the base plate extendingupwardly from the pivotal connection of said rod, I provide a recess toreceive the anchor rod when it is pivoted to a plane substantiallyparallel to the base plate. Thus when an anchor rod is in the recess,the ground anchor is in a position to be driven into the ground. Whenthe rod and base plate are in this relatively parallel position, it isimportant that they remain so throughout the driving operation, whichmay be accomplished by the anchor rod itself or by a separate drivingtool. If the plate does not remain parallel, it may veer off to one sideor the other giving it an improper position or even preventing the baseplate from being driven into the ground at all. Thus in order to holdthe rod and plate parallel, it is a feature of my invention that Iprovide means associated with the driving element and the base plate forholding the rod and base plate roughly parallel during the drivingoperation.

A further feature of my invention is the provision of means for easypenetration of the anchor into the earth, and for causing the anchorbase plate to pivot to a plane normal to the direction of thrust whenthe rod or thrust bearing element is subjected to operating tension.

Further objects and features of my invention will best be understood andappreciated from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown inthe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in perspective of the ground anchor of my inventiondiagrammatically shown in its anchoring position under the surface ofthe earth;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the rod and base plate inparallel relation;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section along the lines 3+3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 except the anchor rod is in anelevated position;

Fig. 5 is a view in rear elevation;

Fig. 6 is a plan view looking axially along the anchor rod with the baseplate in parallel relation to the anchor rod:

Fig. 7 is a view in front elevation of a variation of the ground anchorof my invention;

Fig. 8 is a view in cross section along the lines 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view in cross section showing the embodiment of Figs. 1-6 inthe anchored position;

Fig. 10 is a view in cross section showing the embodiment of Figs. 7 and8 in the anchored position;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a further variation of the ground anchor of myinvention;

Fig. 12 is a view in cross section along the lines 12-12 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a view in, front elevation of still a further variation ofthe ground anchor of my invention;

Fig. 14 is a view in cross section along the lines 14-14 of Fig. 13; 1

Fig. 15 is a plan view of the anchor plate of the embodiment shown inFig. 13; a

Fig. 16 is a view in rear elevation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 13;and

a a i 7 a Fig. 17 is a cross sectional view along the lines 1414 of Fig.13 except that the ground plate is in a horizontal position and theconnecting member is standing in a plane normal to the ground.

The preferred embodiment of my invention herein shown includes atriangular-shaped base plate 10 and an anchor 'rod 12 pivotallyconnected by a ball and socket arrangement having a ball 14 mounted onthe rod 12 and a socket 16 in the back side of the plate 19. The plate10' may preferably be of cast metal, such as cast iron, cast aluminumalloys, or the like, and the rod 12 may be fabricated from conventionalsteel rod.

The front face of the plate 10 is provided with an elongated recess 18to receive the rod 12 when the rod is pivoted around to a positionparallel to the plane of the base plate 10, and when the rod is in thisposition relative to the base plate 10, the ground anchor is ready to bedriven into the ground. However, in order to hold the ground anchor inthat position relative to the rod, I provide a flange in the form of anut 20 located on the rod upward from the ball 14 and roughly adjacentto the upper margin of the base plate 10. The nut 20 is adapted to seatinto a socket 22 in the upper portion of the base plate 10 when theanchor is being driven into the ground but to pull out of the socket 22when the rod is pulled upwardly after the anchor has been fully drivenhome; In order to accomplish this, the socket 16 onthe back side of theplate 10 is elongated, thus permitting the'ball 14 to 'move relative tothe plate 16 when it is withdrawn. It will be seen with reference toFig. '4 that when the. ball 14 is pulled upwardly to its uppermostextremity in the socket 16 that the nut 20 clears the top edge of thesocket 22 thus permitting the anchor to tip relative to the rod 12.After the anchor has been driven in to the desired position, the rod 12is simply withdrawn a short distanceand the base plate 10 tips andassumes a position-roughly normal to the axis of the rod 12, thereaftersubstantially resisting any further withdrawing force by forcesproportional to the stifiness of the .1

earth, the weight of the material on top of the anchor, and the size ofthe base plate 10. In order toassist the tipping motion of the plate'lOwhen a desired position has been reached, I recess the base plate 10 onone side at V ment 3% anda socket 32, but it will. be noted that theshank of the rod 28 is not threaded and has no nut 2t} and that thesocket 32 is not elongated as was the socket 1.6. However, the face ofthe base plate 2.6is provided.

with an elongated recess 34 which is in all respects similar to therecess 18. The embodiment of Figs. 7 and 8,.

however, is maintained parallel to the rod 28 during the driving phaseof the operation by means of a slight lateral flare 36 on the rear faceof the base plate 26. The time 36 serves to drive the rear side of theupper portion of the base plate 26 towards the rod'28' andthns maintainlO'as might be the case with the device of Figs. 16 and 9.

If the ball joints previously described are not sufliend of theconnecting .rod and while this may be convenient and desirable,especially in the larger sizes, the

connecting rod may not be sufiiciently rigid in the smaller sizes totake the'impact which may be necessary to drive the ground anchor intothe earth. Thus in the smaller sizes a lighter connecting rod may beemployed or even wire, cable or the like. A mechanism for such a connection employing the essential features of my invention is shown in Figs.13-17. In this embodiment of my invention a base plate 44 is employedhaving a tapered 'lower' end in a manner similar to the previouslydescribed embodiments. However, the base plate 44 is provided with anoutwardly extending flare at 46 to prepare a path for penetration of theconnecting elements of the ground plate into the ground. The base plate44 is provided with a recess 48 in its upper portion which issubstantially similar to the recesses 18 and 34 hitherto described.However, the recess 48 is slightly narrowed adjacent to its opening asindicated at 50. The purpose for narrowing the recess 48 at 50 is toaccommodate a driving tool indicated at 52 in Fig. 14 such that adownwardly extending lug 54 on the driving tool 52 can enter the recess48 in a relatively snug fit, and thereafter hold the base plate 44roughly parallel to the driving tool 52. The thrust of the driving tool52 is taken by an annular flange 56 which rests on the upper "butt edgeof the base plate 44.

In this embodiment the connecting, elements for the a guy wires to thebase plate 44 is a rod 58 which is pivotally the parallel alignmentbetween-these two elements. When the anchor reaches the desiredposition, thelrod' 28 is pulled back and as it recedes the plate 26 tipsrelative thereto until it reaches a position substantially normal to thedirection of thrust which is the position'of maximum anchoring efiect.

ground after the anchor has been driven in as well as holding theanchorstraight during the driving operation. It should also be notedthat thereis no axial relative V a It should be noted that the flare 36I serves to assist this pivotal action of the anchor in the connected tothe base plate 44 by means of a ball and pin connection 60 similartothat shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The rod 58 is bent slightly :so thatits. contour adjacent to the lowerend of the driving tool 54 will con-.form more accurately to the path the ground anchor takes through theearth. The upper portion ofthe rod .58 is provided with a rounded hole62 adapted to receive guy wire, cable, or the like. The rod 58 may bevery short as shown or it may be long enough to extendupward to thesurface of the earth. With reference to' Fig.17 it will be seen" thatthe rod 58 in the operative position does not stand up perfectlyvertically, but it will be understood that the slight bend in the'rod'58 is of no consequence andwas merely for'the purpose of easyentranceinto the ground as was previously explained. In Operation, thisslight bend may even straighten out,

Itwill now be'seen that the groundflanchor 'ofmy invention isparticularly durable and adapts itself readily to use in a wide varietyof terrains and applications. It will also be noted that the point ofthrust from .the

connecting element to the various base plates is approximately atthe'geometric center of the base plate ina plane normal to the directionof thrust when the plate is in the anchoring position shown in Figs. 9wand 17. Thus the ground anchor will tend always to remain in a normalposition such that unexpected shocks or loads, or the like will not tendto tip the ground anchor and cause it to pull out 'of the ground in anyfashion other than in a plane'normal to the direction of thrust, in

which plane it has the maximum resistance. On 'the a other hand in theembodiments shown in Figs. '7, Sand 10l 2, when the plate is parallel tothe rod fordriving the anchor into the ground, the point of thrust ofthe rod lies to the front of the line of the geometric center'ofresistance. of the plate as is shown'b'y the dotted line in Fig. 12.This fact'serves to keep the plate parallel tothe I rod while drivingthe anchor into the ground, and also serves to tip it normal to the rodwhen assuming the anchoring position.

Certain minor variations of this preferred embodiment of my inventionwill now be apparent to those skilled in the art, and therefore, it isnot intended to confine the invention to the precise form herein shown,but rather to limit it in terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described and disclosed preferred embodiments of myinvention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. A ground anchor comprising a shaft with a head at one end and aperipheral flange spaced from said head, a base plate with a taperedend, a front face, a back face, and a rear end face, said plate having ahole running from its front face to its back face, said hole beinglarger than the cross-section of said shaft but smaller than said flangeand head, said shaft loosely extending through said hole with said headlocated on the rear side of said plate and said flange located on thefront side of said plate, said front face having an elongated slotrunning from said hole back to said rear end to receive said shaft whensaid shaft is pivoted into parallel relation with the plane of saidplate, said back face having a cavity communicating with said hole forreceiving said head, said cavity being sufliciently large to permitlimited relative reciprocal movement of said head between a firstposition furthest from said tapered end and a second position closest tosaid tapered end, when said shaft is disposed in said slot in parallelrelation to the plane of said plate, and means at said rear end forcooperating with said flange to lock said shaft in said parallel position only when said head is in said second position.

2. A ground anchor comprising an anchor rod with an enlarged head at oneend and a peripheral flange spaced from said head, a base plate having atapered bottom end, a front face, a rear face, and a top end faceopposite said tapered end, said front face having a longitudinallyextending slot running from said end face and terminating at thesubstantially geometric center of said base plate, said rear face havinga cavity at said geometric center, said cavity and said slot overlappingto form an open passageway between said rear and front faces, said rodloosely extending through said passageway with said head disposed on therear side of said plate and said flange disposed on the front side ofsaid plate, said passageway having a diameter smaller than said head andsaid flange whereby said head and flange are prevented from passingtherethrough, said cavity having a longitudinal dimension measured on aline running from said top end face to said tapered end sufficient topermit lirnited relative reciprocal movement of said head toward andaway from said tapered end when said shaft is resting in said slot withits head disposed in said cavity, and means provided at said end surfacefor lockingly engaging said flange to prevent relative pivotal movementof said shaft out of said slot when said head is urged forward towardsaid tapered end.

3. A ground anchor comprising, an anchor rod and a base plate pivotallyconnected to said rod by a ball and socket connection, said anchor rodhaving a ball at one end and a peripheral flange spaced from said ball,said base plate comprising a tapered end, a front face, a back face, andan end face opposite to said tapered end, said plate having a socket insaid back face for said ball, said socket being sufiiciently large topermit movement of said ball toward and away from said tapered endbetween a first position nearest said end face and a second positionnearest said tapered end, said rod extending through said plateoutwardly of said front face, said front face further being providedwith an elongated recess for receiving said rod when said rod is pivotedtoward said end face into the plane of said plate, said recess extendingfrom said end face toward said tapered end and terminating inoverlapping communicating relation with said socket, said plate alsohaving an end socket for said flange formed in said end face, said endsocket opening into said front face and forming in part a continuationof said recess, whereby to receive said rod when it is pivoted into theplane of said plate to place said flange in seating alinement with saidend socket, said flange being seated in said socket and locking said rodagainst pivotal movement when with said rod disposed in the plane ofsaid plate said ball is in said second position, said rod With said ballin said first position being free to pivot out of the plane of saidplate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS994,356 Wood June 6, 1911 1,002,350 Wilcox Sept. 5, 1911 1,659,527Holmgreen Feb. 14, 1928 2,706,967 Iannetti Apr. 26, 1955 2,712,864Clevett July 12, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 54,419 Germany Dec. 1, 1890 27,997Great Britain 1908

